Moments
by alygator86
Summary: What if Shawn didn't ask out Abigail in 3.16? Obviously spoilers for 3.16 - An Evening With Mr. Yang.


Mexico was great but I got sun poisoning and a stomach bug so I got very little done with Sadie Grace. I thought I would give you this while I'm still working on that fic.

SJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJ

Shawn was chasing a suspect – or rather running after Juliet who was following Lassiter who was chasing a suspect – through the maze of storage crates in a dark warehouse. And then suddenly he was flying then falling and his head hurt and he was no longer running. Why did he stop running? He heard his father's voice in his head, telling him what he said when Shawn was going to his high school reunion.

His father's voice told him: "life is not made up of a single moment. It's made up of a gazillion moments. What defines us is the choice we make in the next moment, and the one after that. These moments, Shawn, they're happening, they're all around us, all the time."

And then he was in the Psych office, it was bright and sunny outside but, well that's weird. He vaguely remembered he had just been running through a warehouse at night. That couldn't be right. A quick look at the calendar told him it was the day Yang started her game, when she kidnapped that waitress and then his mom.

Shawn briefly wondered how he knew thawonders going to happen today, but before he could hold on to that thought and dive deeper into it Gus came in the office.

"I don't really feel like going out to breakfast today, Shawn," Gus told him.

"Not a problem, Gus," replied Shawn, "I have a brand new box of Cocoa Pebbles. Whaaat!"

"Nice!"

After a quiet morning filled with Cocoa Pebbles and _The Breakfast Club_ – no pun intended - they got a call from Juliet to come to the station. That call led to running around the city from clue to clue trying to find a waitress from a restaurant close to the Psych office who had been kidnapped. The clues got more and more personal towards Shawn. He snapped at Juliet, told her to leave and that he was done playing this game. But he kept working at it, ended up at a hotel room where he met up with Juliet and Lassie again.

He learned that Yang had taken his mother.

That was all finished now. He found his mom at the drive-in movies, talked to Yang and got her to give him the remote to the bomb attached to his mom. Yang was arrested; his mom was safe, he and Gus were hungry.

Shawn went to the concession stand to get some snacks before they closed. He picked up the tray containing the popcorn, candy, and two large drinks and stopped to get some straws. Juliet, wearing her hair down and a blue sweater that looked great on her, stood nervously five feet away from him in front of a jukebox.

"Jules," he smiled, always happy to see her. "What are you doing here? What I mean is who is going to fit Mr. Yang with her straightjacket and iron mask with face grill?"

Juliet took a step towards him, trying not to fiddle nervously with her sweater, "Something tells me there's an entire precinct full of officers bidding on that job right now."

"Uh, can I interest you in a Necco wafer?" He held out the pack of Necco's.

"Shawn, can you just not talk for a few seconds?" she paused to get her thoughts straight, "Look. I just wanted to tell you that what you did today….I mean I can't imagine being able to function at that level while your mom was…you know." Juliet looked down briefly, "I am, uh, clearly not as good with words as you are an, um, I know that things between us have been a little complicated and there have probably been some mixed signals. Mostly from me with regards to the time that we spend together outside of the line of duty."

"Look, Jules…" he started. The last thing he wanted was for her to say they can't hang out anymore. 

"Shh," she took another step towards him. "Please just let me finish stumbling through this. I'm almost done, I promise. What I'm saying is that I think that maybe the best things, the richest things aren't supposed to come easily. And that sometimes the moments that make the most sense happen when everything else doesn't and... well..." Juliet shifted the popcorn and drinks from his hands to the counter. "I think you deserve more than popcorn tonight." she was now almost a foot away from him. "So why don't you let me take you to dinner?"

"Let me give Gus the snacks and we'll go, Jules."

That date led to more dates. Dates led to sleepovers. Six months later, Juliet was Shawn's longest-lasting girlfriend. Then they broke up.

Shawn was suddenly in a dark warehouse, three very concerned faces looking down on him. Well, two very concerned faces and one Lassiter.

"Jules," he started, wanting to share his concussion induced revelation.

"I'm here Shawn," she brushed her fingers over his hair.

"Jules there is no way it would have worked out between us if we had gotten together after Yang kidnapped my mom," Shawn told her.

Lassiter rolled his eyes, "he doesn't have brain damage, does he?"

"What do you mean, Shawn?" Juliet asked, helping him sit up.

"When I was unconscious I had a dream or something. Gus and I didn't eat at that restaurant; I never called Abigail to ask her out. When you asked me to dinner I said yes but it was too easy and we didn't last. You said it yourself, Jules," Shawn told her. "During your adorable speech when you asked me out after we rescued my mom from Yang. You said the best things aren't supposed to come easily. We had obstacles and you almost went to the Almalfi Coast and...We didn't come easily."

"How did you have such an elaborate dream in two minutes?" Gus asked rhetorically.

Juliet grinned, "So you're saying there was no other way for us to be us than how it happened?"

"Exactly," he nodded, "Will you marry me?"

"Seriously?!" Lassiter huffed.

"Yes, seriously," Shawn retorted, making a face at Lassiter before looking back at Juliet, "The ring is at the Psych office and this is not how I planned it but – Jules. Will you marry me?"

"Yes," she smiled. "I will marry you."


End file.
